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What Average Bounce Rate has to do with Garrison Keillor


Average bounce rate is sort of a big deal - AlignTech Solutions

Perhaps you’re thinking, “Ok, I’ll bite. What does average bounce rate have to do with Garrison Keillor?” And perhaps also, “What in the heck is an average bounce rate?”

Average Bounce Rate

The bounce rate and average bounce rate are important measurements in the world of search engine marketing. They help us “measurers” – SEO professionals – gauge the marketing effectiveness of your website. If you happen to…

  • Run your company or run your company’s marketing department
  • Have a company website
  • And spend anything at all on your internet marketing budget each year

…the average bounce rate is an important thing for you to understand.

Bounce Rate Reflects Your Visitors’ Expectations

Have you ever found yourself in the RIGHT PLACE at the WRONG TIME? Or perhaps in the wrong place at the right time? I thought about this phenomenon at a recent show my wife and I attended with some friends. The show was Garrison Keillor, well known as the host and creator of A Prairie Home Companion, a radio program which airs on Saturdays via Minnesota Public Radio.

As you may know, Garrison broadcast his final appearance as the host of that show on Saturday, July 2, 2016, having announced his retirement back in 2015. Prior to his departure, Keillor had picked Chris Thile as the new permanent host.

Thile made his debut as the new host on October 15, 2016 at the Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul. As it happened, October 15th was also the day we saw Keillor perform at the Weidner Center on the campus of UW Green Bay.

Managing Expectations

A Prairie Home Companion began airing live on July 6, 1974 and is still going strong. Garrison Keillor was the host of the show from its first airing until just four months ago. That’s around 42 years of people getting used to the idea that:

“Garrison Keillor” = “A Prairie Home Companion”

…and vice versa.

So on October 15th, you could probably forgive folks for thinking…

  • “I’m going to see Garrison Keillor – and therefore A Prairie Home Companion as it is being recorded for the airwaves”
    OR
  • “I’m going to the Fitzgerald Theatre in St. Paul to see A Prairie Home Companion being recorded live – and therefore to see Garrison Keillor as well”

Goal: A Low Average Bounce Rate

In a like manner, visitors to your website expect to find what is advertised about your site; that is, the types of information they’re led to believe is on your website as a result of reading search engine results, online reviews, social media messages and dialog, and so on. As a rule of thumb…

“Low average bounce rate” = “Successful online marketing”

…and this is the result you get when your visitors find exactly what they’re looking for on your site.

Give Them What They Want

In a previous article I explained how Google has become so successful. In a nutshell, they find out what people want and then give it to them. So how do we avoid the types of wrong place at the right time problems that make visitors want to leave your website? We give them what they want. In other words, we make sure that the messages your visitors – and search engines – receive about your website are truthful and accurate, and that your site is well optimized, thus bringing more of the right types of prospective customers to you.

About Jeff Hayes

Jeff is an agile consultant, coach and trainer with a career spanning 30 years. He specializes in co-creating learning environments to help humans learn how to learn, become more curious and productive, and to build resilience.
 

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